The present invention relates generally to graphical user interfaces for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for placing and sizing title bars on graphical user interfaces.
The evolution of the computer industry is arguably unparalleled in its rate of growth and complexity. Personal computers, for example, which began as little more than feeble calculators with limited memory, tape-driven input and monochrome displays are now able to tackle almost any data processing task. While this meteoric increase in power was almost sufficient to satisfy the demand of application programmers and end users alike, the corresponding increase in complexity created an ease-of-use problem which the industry was some, what slower in solving. Thus, designers were faced with a new challenge: to harness this computing power in a form usable by even those with relatively little computer training to smooth the transition of other industries into a computer-based information paradigm.
As a result, in the early to mid-1980's many new I/O philosophies, such as "user friendly", "WYSIWYG" and "menu driven" came to the forefront of the industry. These concepts are particularly applicable to microcomputers, also known as personal computers, which are intended to appeal to a broad audience of computer users, including those who previously feared and mistrusted computers. An important aspect of computers which employ these concepts was, and continues to be, the interface which allows the user to input commands and data and receive results, which is commonly referred to as a graphical user interface (GUI).
One type of GUI is based on a visual metaphor which uses a monitor screen as a work surface called a "desktop" where documents are presented in relocatable regions termed "windows". The user interacts with the computer by, for example, moving objects on the desktop, choosing commands from menus, and manipulating window controls, such as checkboxes and scroll bars. An exemplary desktop screen is reproduced as FIG. 1.
The success of this type of interface is evident from the number of companies which have emulated the desktop environment. Even successful concepts, however, must continually be improved in order to keep pace with the rapid growth in this industry. The advent of multimedia, especially CD-ROM devices, has provided vast quantities of secondary storage which have been used to provide video capabilities, e.g., live animation and video clips, as regular components of application displays. With these new resources at their disposal, application designers, and others, desire more and more control over the appearance of the display, including the desktop environment and, in particular, objects on the desktop.
Windows, filing cabinets, folders and documents are several examples of conventional desktop objects. As a further extension of the desktop visual metaphor, a new desktop object called a "drawer" has been introduced, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2. The drawer 8 shown in FIG. 2 is depicted in its opened state wherein the window extends from an edge 10 of the display space. Note that drawer 8 has a title bar 12. In its closed state, the drawer 8 might appear as illustrated in FIG. 3. Therein, note that the title bar 12 appears above the display space edge 10 while the rest of the drawer 8 is hidden from view. As a user creates and closes multiple drawers, many issues arise as to how, for example, the title bars 12 are to be drawn along the display space edge 10.